News from the 64th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association held in Orlando, Fla.:

• Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, said Phase III data of exenatide, being studied for Type II diabetes, showed the drug significantly lowered average glucose levels, measured by A1C, in patients who were unable to achieve adequate glucose control on common oral regimens. Exenatide treatment resulted in reductions in body weight, and data also showed sustained reductions in A1C of 1 percent or more with associated weight loss.

• BioStratum Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said Pyridorin, a small molecule that inhibits the formation of harmful advanced glycation end-products, was granted fast-track status by the FDA and recently has completed Phase II trials for diabetic kidney disease. The drug was found to be safe and well tolerated. It also showed a marked benefit in the rate of decline in creatinine clearance.

• Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., reported results from a multiple-dose study of an oral insulin tablet using its Eligen technology that showed the product was well tolerated. The study, which involved 13 patients, also showed improvements in post-prandial blood glucose concentrations under both oral glucose tolerance tests and standardized meal conditions. It also tended to improve fasting blood glucose concentrations and insulin resistance.

• Entelos Inc., of Foster City, Calif., and the ADA formed a collaboration aimed at preventing Type I diabetes. The parties will develop an in silico research platform based on a non-obese diabetic mouse. A scientific advisory board has been formed to provide guidance and oversee the collaboration. The platform will be made available to other academic researchers through the ADA's grant process.

• Nektar Therapeutics, of Orlando, said Pfizer Inc., of New York, and Aventis SA, of Strasbourg, France, reported data showing sustained glycemic control and pulmonary function in patients with Type II diabetes taking Exubera, an inhalable, rapid-acting, dry-powder insulin. Nektar developed the inhalers and the powdered insulin formulation for Exubera.

• The Institute for Diabetes Discovery LLC (IDD), of Branford, Conn., said IDD-3, a member of a class of compounds that inhibit protein tyrosine phosphatase 1b, significantly reduced plasma glucose and insulin levels in models of insulin resistance and Type II diabetes. After a two-week treatment, IDD's compound reduced by 27 percent HbA1c, a key measure of glycemic control.